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As the real-life war in Afghanistan enters its ninth year, the digital war is set to begin this fall.

In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Activision and Infinity Ward sidestepped controversy by labeling generic Middle Eastern foes as OpFor, military code that's short for Opposing Force. In the upcoming Medal of Honor reboot, Electronic Arts and DICE remove conjecture: the enemy is the Taliban. It's a decision DICE and EA are standing by, but one they admit will inevitably spark a fresh "militainment" debate.

In an interview with PSM3 magazine, Medal of Honor producer Patrick Liu said the game is intended to provide a more realistic experience with its real-world setting and characters. In the single player campaign, players will take on a variety of U.S. military personnel and battle the Taliban. In the multiplayer modes, players alternately play as U.S. forces and Taliban.

"I think it is a fair point," he said when asked if it's okay to create a game where people can play as the Taliban and digitally shoot U.S. Marines. "We do stir up some feelings, although it's not about the war, it's about the soldiers."

"We can't get away from what the setting is and who the factions are, but in the end, it's a game, so we're not pushing or provoking too hard."

In April 2003, Sony filed a trademark for the term "Shock and Awe," the same term Washington used to describe the March 2003 U.S. bombardment of Baghdad, with the intention of developing an Iraq war videogame. After a public outcry, Sony scrapped plans for the game and said it had used "regrettable bad judgement."

Last year, Konami backed out of its publishing agreement with developer Atomic Games after a similar controversy arose surrounding Six Days in Fallujah, an FPS based on Operation Phantom Fury, the 2004 U.S. and British effort to retake the city of Fallujah from Iraqi insurgents. More than 1,500 insurgents and 38 U.S. Marines were killed in the battle.

Though the game was developed in collaboration with a handful of Iraq veteran U.S. Marines, critics argued it was insensitive, too soon for a game based on the battle, and glorified violence. Atomic Games continues to stand by its work, pointing out veterans of the battle actually asked the developer to make the game. Most recently, in March, Atomic said it still plans to publish Six Days in Fallujah.

Medal of Honor is set to ship for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Windows PCs on October 12.

Sharkey says: I remember playing the Medal of Honor: Allied Assault multiplayer on PC way back in the day. A non-gaming friend raised an eyebrow when he noticed I was playing as the Germans and asked if it bothered me I was a Nazi killing U.S. soldiers. My answer: it's a game. I'm not a Nazi and I'm not killing anyone. I'm playing a videogame as a character challenged with tagging out other characters before they tag me -- it's just a game. However, if I were somehow playing that same game as WWII was still raging in 1944, I think I would feel much differently. What's your take? Is there an invisible line that shouldn't be crossed in videogames? Is it okay to play as the Taliban against U.S. soldiers while America is actually at war against the Taliban? Would you prefer playing as/facing off against generic bad guys or even someone we're not actually at war with, like Russia in MW2? Sound off in the comments section.